The DOW PARTBOOKS

A full-colour facsimile edition of Oxford, Christ Church Library Mus. 984-988

VdGS members may recall our meeting in Oxford in March 2007 when Margaret Bent introduced the Dow manuscripts, their compiler and the music. It was reported in The Viol, No.7 (Summer 2007). Members who visited Christ Church College on that occasion saw one of the Dow volumes on display. The meeting and the manuscript made such an impression that we felt we had to investigate the possibility of publishing a facsimile. After a lot of work, and with the support of members, it is very gratifying that this project has now come to the final stage.

Robert Dow's partbooks, copied in Oxford around 1580, rank among the most beautiful of all Tudor music manuscripts. They contain a varied 5-part repertory suitable for voices and viols, including both texted and untexted pieces such as motets, consort songs and In nomines, in a variety of clefs. The composers include Byrd, White, Tallis, Tye, Parsons, van Wilder and Ferrabosco, among others. Dow was a trained calligrapher, and his exquisite penmanship, executed in black ink on printed red staves, is generally accurate and easy to read, so the text is unedited. However, some adjustments have been made where show-through was prominent.

The set comprises 6 volumes (five full-colour partbooks, each c.200pp; the sixth contains a specially commissioned introduction by John Milsom, indexes etc), on heavy matt art paper, softbound in a hard slipcase. It is a real bargain for such a substantial quantity (over 130 pieces) of very high quality music.

The set is published by DIAMM in collaboration with the VdGS. DIAMM also offer the stunningly beautiful and important Eton Choirbook, a crucial source of English choral music circa 1500. N.B. the Eton Choirbook is a single volume, whereas the Dow is in the form of separate partbooks. More information and pictures at www.diamm.ac.uk

The price is £199. Orders or enquiries should be sent to: diamm@music.ox.ac.uk, or DIAMM, Faculty of Music, St Aldates, Oxford OX1 1DB. Payments by cheque (payable to 'Oxford University') for the full amount plus Postage (UK £12; Europe £19; Elsewhere £29.50) must include all contact details for despatch. Sets can be collected from Oxford in order to avoid the cost of postage.

Orders and payment may also be made online HERE

Depending on the success of this publication, the Society may consider offering other facsimiles in the future, so if any candidate manuscripts come to mind, please inform the committee